Armenia: What to know?

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Armenia is a small country in Eurasia. It covers 11,500 square miles (29,800 square km), making it somewhat smaller than the state of Maryland. It borders with Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iran and Türkiye.

It was first established around the 6th millennium BC. In the 9th century BC, the first major kingdom, the Kingdom of Urartu, was formed and lasted until its conquest by the Medes in the early 6th century BC. The region was later ruled by the Orontids, both independently and as a region of the great Persian empire.

Alexander the Great conquered Armenia during his expansion and in the early 2nd century BC the region was reconstituted as a Hellenic state. This kingdom expanded, eventually conquering parts of Iran, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria and Turkey, forming an Armenian empire.

In the 1st century, Christianity was introduced to the area by Batholomew and Thaddeus, two disciples of Jesus. By the early 4th century, Armenia had declared itself a Christian nation, making it the first nation to do so. From the 1st century onwards, it went from being independent, to being controlled by the Romans and controlled by the Parthians. This would last for centuries, with the Sassanid Persians briefly taking control in the 1st century. At the end of the 4th century the country was divided in two, with half going to Persia and the other half to the Byzantine Empire.

In the 6th century Byzantium began to conquer Persian Armenia, and at the beginning of the 7th century the country was united again. Only a few decades later the Arab Caliphate invaded, occupying large parts of Armenia and leaving small parts to Byzantium. At the end of the 9th century she was again recognized as ruler, mainly to act as a buffer between the Caliphate and the Byzantine Empire. This lasted until the late 11th century when the Seljuk Turks claimed the territory as their own. During the following centuries of Islamic Turkish rule, the kingdom of Armenia continued to exist as a small state, the Kingdom of Cilicia, which had considerable influence throughout Europe until being wiped out by the Egyptian Mamluks in the late 14th century.

For the following centuries, Armenia passed between the Ottoman Empire and the Persian Empire, just as it had previously passed between the Romans and the Parthians. The state became largely fragmented at this time, and in the early 19th century the Russians took control of the Persian sections of the country.

During World War I the Ottoman Empire, citing concerns that people in Ottoman-controlled Armenia would allied with Imperial Russia, carried out a systematic genocide that ultimately resulted in the deaths of over 1.5 million ethnic Armenians. Following the collapse of the Ottoman and Russian empires after the war, Armenia declared independence as a democratic republic. This was short-lived, however, with the new Soviets taking over most of the country and Turkey taking over small parts. The two powers fought over the region, eventually dividing the territory in a treaty in 1921.
It remained part of the Soviet Union until its fall in 1991, at which point it declared independence. After a few difficult first years, it began to rebuild its economy and develop substantially.
Although a small country, Armenia offers many amazing sites for visitors. The Holy See of Echmiadzin is one of the most amazing places in the nation, with more than 1700 years of holy relics all housed there, testifying to the country’s incredibly long history of Christianity. Monasteries also dot the countryside, with Tatvet Monastery being perhaps the most impressive, built in the 9th century as an impenetrable fortress to protect holy relics from invaders.

Flights regularly arrive in Yerevan from most European hubs, as well as Russia and major cities in the Middle East. The borders with both Azerbaijan and Turkey are closed and crossing them is dangerous and difficult. Overland travel can be found from Iran and Georgia but is still quite difficult.

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